PARENTS LARGELY UNAWARE TEEN BINGE DRINKING IS GROWING
DEADLIER

Alcohol Found To Be More Dangerous Than Pot, Ecstasy And
Acid

The dreaded birds-and-bees talk looks easy compared to this new rite
of modern parenthood. Among issues parents are encouraged to talk to
their teen and preteen children about is how to identify a case of
alcohol poisoning when they see one.

"Don't leave someone to sleep it off or walk it off and don't douse
him or her with cold water. A person with alcohol poisoning could die
in under an hour. So don't wait it out--get help. It could save a life."

This is some of the advice the Canadian Mental Health Association
suggests parents give their teens about drinking. "It will not only
encourage them to temper their own drinking, but will help them
understand what to do if a friend has had too much alcohol."

Unlike life-saving or CPR skills or even ubiquitous fire drills, which
they may never have to use, the tips on identifying alcohol poisoning
will, sadly, probably come in handy. Perhaps at a weekend house party
or neighbourhood park soon.

Binge drinking, once associated with college frat parties, Queen's
homecoming festivities and bush parties, is becoming a routine part of
the high school, even junior high school, experience for many
teenagers. And no small number end up in the hospital as a result.

"I have four children now aged 18 to 26, and at almost every party
they went to in their teenage years, a child was taken to hospital
with alcohol poisoning," former British drug czar David Nutt said
recently. If you think he is exaggerating, you are out of touch with
teen-drinking culture.

Nutt's comments came after he was removed from his position as head of
his country's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for expressing
the entirely accurate, yet apparently outrageous, opinion that alcohol
is more dangerous than cannabis, ecstasy and LSD. Before being fired,
Nutt slammed his country's drug policies, saying the government should
pay more attention to truly dangerous drugs such as heroin and alcohol
instead of focusing on those that are less harmful. In 20 years, he
predicts, liver disease will outstrip heart disease as the leading
killer.

Britain's drinking culture has been made notorious by drunken soccer
hooligans. But Britain is not an island when it comes to kids and
binge drinking.

In Germany this week, a seven-year-old boy ended up in intensive care
after being found passed out on a sidewalk in a drunken stupor.
Officials there say cases of alcohol poisoning among young people are
soaring. More than 20,000 minors are admitted to the hospital every
year with alcohol poisoning. In California, one boy nearly died after
a case of alcohol poisoning at a Halloween party. A teen in the same
town died earlier this year after binge drinking.

Binge drinking is a growing problem here as well. An Ontario Student
Drug Use and Health Survey done in 2005 found that, among 7,726
students in Grades 7-12, alcohol was the substance of choice. About
two-thirds of them said they had drunk alcohol in the past year. About
25 per cent of boys and 20 per cent of girls admitted to binge drinking.

Recently, I sat in a high school auditorium with a group of parents
who heard about the growing prevalence of binge drinking among
teenagers, among other things. At Nepean High School, some students
have adopted a tradition of staying up all night drinking before the
first day of school. This year, the principal began the school year by
sending a number of drunk students home to sleep it off.

Parents of high school students agonize over how to prevent their
children from drinking or whether it is even possible. Many
reluctantly conclude that allowing them to try alcohol at home is the
lesser of two evils. At least they know where they are and can monitor
the situation.

There is evidence that normalizing drinking cuts down on binge
behaviour. The U.S., where the drinking age is 21 has traditionally
had bigger issues with binge drinking among college students than in
Canada where most university and college students can drink legally.

But high school drinking is another matter. At some schools,
particularly more affluent, less diverse schools, a drinking culture
can take hold, which makes drinking to excess seem normal to some
teenagers, even those who might not otherwise do so. The consequences
can be deadly. Which is why parents are talking about it.

When you can still remember their new-baby smell, it seems wrong to
have discussions with your children about behaviour that could kill
them or their friends, or to share wisdom like: "A person who has been
drinking heavily and is unconscious should be laid on his or her side
and watched closely so that he or she doesn't choke."

But such are the new ABCs of the teenage years. Parents and their
children should know them well.